


Onwards and Upwards

by Dallas



Category: Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Character Death, Established Relationship, F/M, Gen, Mentions of Character Death, Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-06
Updated: 2013-06-06
Packaged: 2017-12-14 03:06:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/831991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dallas/pseuds/Dallas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As much as it hurts, they key is to keep going. Look for a new adventure and grab it with both hands. That's how you keep them alive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Onwards and Upwards

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this almost a year ago now, after the death of Caroline John, but never posted it. As it was the first anniversary of her death yesterday, I felt the need to share it. It's hard when you lose the actors who brought to life your favourite characters.

Liz hated churches. Specifically she hated Catholic churches. That point where belief became nothing more than material. All the gold and statues were, in her opinion, inappropriate in a place of worship. If she didn’t find the whole subject matter questionable she would have been an Atheist on the materialism alone. As it were she was stuck outside a Catholic church biding her time before she’d have to go in. She’d fought tooth and nail not to be married in one but there was no avoiding it this time. Sitting stoically on a small stone bench out of sight from the guests arriving, she stared down at the pipe in her hands. Having grabbed it at the last minute before she left the house she hadn’t thought to pick up the matchbox that lay next to it. God forbid, she rolled her eyes at the thought, she have her pipe and smoke it too.

 

“Need a match?” A hand appeared in her line of sight, holding out a single match. “There’s plenty to choose from.” The fingers suddenly wrapped around the lone match, hiding it from view, before opening again to reveal a whole matchbox.

 

She frowned and looked up, shielding her eyes from the sun as she tried to see the man standing over her. “How did you do that?”

 

“Magic, Liz,” the man stated enthusiastically. “Isn’t it fantastic? Illusions of the mind! Well, your mind. Can’t be helped really, humans are an easily distracted lot.”

 

She smiled then and nodded as he sat down beside her. Finally she could see him clearly and she reached up to touch his scruffy brown hair. “I knew you wouldn’t miss this,” she said with a smirk. “I didn’t know how to contact you, but I knew you’d come anyway.”

 

“I usually avoid this part,” his boyish grin began to fade as he bowed his head, handing her the matches. “Get to see it all, you know. Whether you see me or not, I get to see it all. Weddings. Birthdays. Reunions...”

 

“Funerals?” she added softly.

 

“Funerals,” he agreed quietly. “I try to miss them. Sometimes I think maybe, just maybe, if I avoid them then they won’t have happened. If I avoid them I don’t lose... I don’t lose my family. Again.”

 

“I’m not sure whether to call you a foolish old man or simply a child,” she said as she lit her pipe, inhaling the much needed tobacco deeply. “He couldn’t stay alive forever. Even if we found a way, with all our experiences and the Universe at our feet, it would be cruel. You understand that, don’t you? It would be cruel. He was sick. No matter how much I want him back I know he was sick and no matter what we did he just would have become sick again. Everyone has their turn.”

 

“It’s Sarah Jane’s turn soon,” the Doctor admitted, looking at Liz like a hopeful young boy. It was as though if he expressed everything to her she would be able to fix it for him.

 

“What? But she’s inside...”

 

“I know. You can’t tell her, Liz,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “I shouldn’t have told you.”

 

“Then why?” she asked, looking at him curiously. The tobacco was calming her. She would react properly when she was finally home alone that evening.

 

“Because it’s going to happen sooner than anyone would like and without warning,” he explained. “You’ve had enough shocks in your time. Most of them my doing...”

 

“So you thought you’d warn me of this one in advance?” she chewed on her lower lip and patted his knee. “I’ll probably appreciate it when the time comes. For the moment I need to focus on getting through today. Yet, I can’t imagine what the world will be like without Sarah Jane Smith.”

 

“Just as it is without the Brigadier, or _you_ ,” the Doctor looked up at the sky. He wondered who would continue the fight now. Though, he supposed, Sarah had taken care of that with her own companions.

 

The sound of gravel crunching beneath shoes caused them both to look up as a young girl rounded the corner. “Gran, Mum says it’s about to start,” she called out as she ran down the path towards them. She stopped a little way off as she realised her Grandmother wasn’t alone. “Hello,” she said politely as she walked the rest of the way.

 

“Hello,” the Doctor responded with a smile, holding out his hand to her. “I’m the Doctor.”

 

Something sparked in the girl’s blue eyes and she smiled knowingly. “Doctor who?”

 

“Now isn’t that the question?” he smiled back at her. He’d seen that look a number of times on her Grandfather’s face. No matter how often he got the Brigadier into a fine mess, or a dangerous situation, there would always be this expression that would flash across his face the instant they recognised one another. An expression that said - now here’s an adventure.


End file.
